Celebrities charge for autographs at conventions

Who's suggesting that? It's the principal of the thing.

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It seems to me that what you're paying for when you buy an autograph or photograph at a convention is the guarantee that the celebrity will be there, that you'll get to meet them, and that you will get the souvenir you wanted. If you were to spot them randomly on the street and approach them, they may give you the autograph or snap a photo with you for free, but the guarantee isn't there.

You usually won't find really big names at the smaller conventions, so most of these people aren't exactly raking in the dough with their acting or whatever it is they do. So conventions are how they make their money and that means selling autographs, photo ops, and merchandise.

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I think what bothers me about charging for autographs isn't the money, but that it's just awkward.

Here I am meeting someone I love and then money has to enter the equation. "Oh, I loved you in that one movie, so how much for an autograph?" Making a cold business transaction part of the equation sucks out a bit of the fun and even adds a bit of tension, as you scramble to your wallet counting your money mid-conversation and sheepishly hand it to his/her assistant.

That said I don't regret any of the autographs I've gone to the trouble of getting. If you really care enough about a celeb to want their name on something, then do it. Also keep in mind that there are people who go to cons for autographs just so they can sell an item on ebay for a bigger price tag. The celebs aren't the only ones being mercenary

Well that's another thing, if they're bigger names, then yeah, they were probably asked to attend on the promise of some financial return and they probably get hounded by ordinary people all the time, but if that was how an independent actor behaved towards the relatively small pool of people who appreciate their work? Nah.

Cmon, you know the Queens love all that reality guff!

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I've only been to one of these conventions, but the awkwardness you describe wasn't part of the equation. You had to purchase the autograph before you were allowed to even get in line to meet the celebrity. Once you paid, they gave you a pass and verified that the number of passes you had matched the number of items you wanted signed, then you got in line, waited your turn, and then handed your pass to the assistant at the signing table.

Fortunately for me, there was only one celebrity I had cared to meet - Bruce Campbell - and my friend Funny Face had bought me the "V.I.P. Package" which included convention admission, an autograph pass, a photograph pass, a lithograph art print of him, and guaranteed admission to his Q&A (which was a riot!), so I got to skip going to the table to buy the autograph and photograph.

The one person I personally know who "loves all that reality guff" is a heterosexual man in his late 50s, who is married to a woman, has three children, and his hobbies include deer hunting, fishing, and riding his ATV.

Regardless, the sexuality of the men in question is completely irrelevant to my statement that "Men watch that garbage, too."

None of the conventions I've gone to have been so well-organized. That's definitely a better methodThat must have been fun, and the Q&A sessions and discussion panels are always the best part of any convention. I've never met Bruce but always wanted to, I'm a huge fan of Brisco County

Keep in mind some of these charges come from the celebrity's agent/agency. Some even go as far as telling the celebrity that they cannot sign anything that isn't personalized. Some celebrities genuinely enjoy coming out and meeting fans and would rather not charge anything but their talent management might force them to. Or like I said the agency that represents them might enforce certain autographing/pic policies on them as they are literally that stingy and paranoid about people selling things signed by the celebrity. Of course there are also just greedy celebs who personally dictate their own terms for the same reason in regards to fearing someone might sell something they signed.

My personal opinion? It's kinda petty if millionaires do it unless they are forced to by their management but for lower grade ones I don't mind paying if the asking price is decent. I also am not big on autographs though unless it's something special I possess I want signed.